Off Field Issues No Concern Says Arnold

Sydney FC Head Coach Graham Arnold believes Perth Glory will be up for Friday night’s game as he said their squad won’t be affected by the off field issues surrounding the club.

Arnold said the only focus on both teams’ minds will be the three points on offer in what will be a crucial clash on Friday night with only three games remaining in the regular season and both teams within reach of first place.

“With what’s going on over there we can’t have any say or control over it,” Arnold said.

“The only doubt or question you would have is the players worrying that they’ve put all this hard work in for nothing from the start of the preseason, a lot of travelling and work that’s gone into something that might end up with nothing.

“That’s probably the only concern that the players would have but overall I think the FFA are in control of what they’re doing.

“For us whether they’ve got 44 points or zero points, tomorrow is about three points and we’ve got to win and get our three points to put us in the position we want to be on merit.

“I think the Australian way is that you’re innocent until proven guilty. We’re not privy to what they’ve done or haven’t done, that’s up to the FFA.”

With Mickael Tavares out injured Arnold said Rhyan Grant would move into the midfield as he said his message is the same as every week regardless of the Hyundai A-League history on offer with a win on Friday night.

“The message will be as normal, it’s one game at a time,” Arnold said.

“Go out and carry out the game plan, stick to the instructions and if you do that I believe we’ve got the quality to win any football game in the A-League.

“The boys are in good shape, we’ve got one or two players down, but Rhyan Grant will come into the midfield and he did exceptionally well when he came in last week for Mickael.

“I’ve seen enough of Rhyan over the years that he can fill any role and do it well and he’ll do a great job for us. He runs and he’s got a lot of energy in midfield and he’s a ball winner so he’ll do a good job.

“It’s going to take us to break history in the A-League, continuing to win away games, to get the points that we need.”

Sydney FC take on Perth Glory at nib Stadium on Friday night (kick off 9:45pm AEDT). Follow @SydneyFC on Twitter for LIVE match updates or catch the game on Fox Sports 4.